pipemakersforum.com

been a while since i've posted here. i've got an opportunity to rent out tool access for $125 a month. this place has sandblasting equipment, wood and metal lathes, fool woodworking shop (with dust collection) and instructors on how to use the big boy tools. here is a link (in case there is one in the area for you gents as well)
http://www.techshop.ws/

i'm in no way affiliated, and this isn't a spam post, i promise.

i'm wondering what i should be looking for as far as tooling. the bandsaw is obvious, but what about the sandblasting set up? and the lathes? anything i should keep an eye out for to make sure it would work for pipe making? i know i'd have to supply my own chamber bits, as they are kind of a specialty deal. but this set up kind of seems to good to be true. i live in a very small house and my little garage has no power, so i don't have the option of setting up a full on workshop for the next year or so (getting married, might end up buying a house and the future wife agrees i need my workshop/man cave )

sorry for the vague question. i've been reading and lurking here for the past few weeks to get a general idea of what kind of chucks i need, etc but kind of looking for any obvious ones that i may miss.

thanks everyone!

well...as far as tooling, check out the stickies under Tools and Tooling, that will also tell you what kind of chuck/jaws you will need.
there are also all kinds of videos on youtube of people making pipes. (type in "pfeifenherstellung" for some good German footage)

but man, that shop is pricey! 175/month plus at least 3 safety courses that cost between 60-90

I personally would only join them if I knew I could sell my pipes to break at least even.

I'd assume they have a drill press.

Because pipes are so small, you don't usually need the kind of large machines you'd usually want for, say, cabinet work. Lathe, bandsaw, sanding equipment, grinder for buffing... you don't need much more.

Other helpful items would include some good hand tools, like high-quality rasps, a wide assortment of files, even a few carving tools.

The sandblasting equipment sounds especially nice, but for the price they're charging, you could build your own workshop pretty quickly. The only way that would tempt me is if (a) I really wanted the tutorials before getting my own equipment, (b) I wanted to try out the hobby to see if I would stick with it, or (c) I had absolutely no space for my own shop.